Leslie Frady, 1986
Leslie (Grau) Frady is a self-employed program manager and consultant in Orange County, California. She has extensive leadership experience in all aspects of developing, improving, and marketing retirement plan programs offered by financial services companies. Additionally, she led product teams at a medical device firm to prepare for a product launch.
“Half my career has been spent in client-facing roles such as leading sales teams and managing key accounts, with the other half devoted to designing and executing complex products and process improvements,” she writes.
She has performed these roles for such companies as TIAA, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, American Express, and Insulet.
Leslie is certified in two management techniques that guide how work is successfully accomplished and how organizational change is managed.
Leslie grew up in Huntley, Illinois. At Cornell she majored in English with a minor in psychology. She was a member of Kappa Theta and a cheerleader.
Both of her parents are Cornell graduates: Nancy Porter Grau, 1954, and Dr. Gary Grau, 1959. “As a result,” Leslie said, “I grew up visiting the college several times a year, attending sports events, walking the campus, and listening to the remarkable organ in King Chapel. I applied to only one other school, but I knew I was destined to attend Cornell.
“One Course at a Time was a fantastic way to learn. I remember people questioning whether it had ‘real world’ applications. Flash forward to my career where I lead business and software development teams through agile ‘sprints’ delivering solutions in three-week increments. OCAAT was absolutely applicable to the real world. And my studies in English gave me the most important skill of all—the ability to communicate.”
Leslie’s husband, Robert, is a graduate of Cornell University. A start-up entrepreneur, he co-founded HazardHub, which tracks the likelihood that any property in the U.S. might experience hazards from fire, water, wind, or earthquakes.
Leslie and Robert live in Ladera Ranch, California. They have three children.